InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - After receiving flak for his perceived absence during calamities, President Benigno Aquino III will visit on Wednesday areas of Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan provinces that were ravaged by floods caused by typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel.”
But Malacanang spokesman Edwin Lacierda on Tuesday defended Aquino’s absence from disaster areas.
“There has been criticism why the President did not show up at the height of the typhoon,” Lacierda said. “Do you know how much local government resources are going to be diverted if the President comes instead of focusing on the affected communities? For instance, helicopters that can be used to deliver goods to those affected areas will be diverted for the President to use.”
The President is scheduled to do a windshield inspection of the Rio Chico Bridge that connects La Paz, Tarlac and Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija at 8 a.m. as well as of the non-functional health facilities near the La Paz municipal hall.
Aquino will then visit the La Paz town plaza, which was converted into an evacuation center for the 31,000 affected families of Barangays San Isidro and San Roque.
From Tarlac, the President will fly to San Fernando, Pampanga at 9 a.m. to visit the evacuation center at the San Jose Elementary School before inspecting the proposed phase III of the Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project in Barangay San Felipe.
Aquino will proceed to Bulacan at 11 a.m. where he will visit the evacuation center at the United Pulp and Paper Corp. in Calumpit before convening a regional disaster council at the Hiyas Convention Center in Malolos.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has recommended the declaration of a state of calamity in areas battered by the successive storms, Lacierda also said.
“There's a recommendation from Secretary Gazmin so that will have to be discussed. But even without a declaration of calamity, we are pursuing our efforts at providing assistance and relief to those affected communities,” Lacierda said.
Once declared in a state of calamity, local government units can tap their calamity fund, equivalent to five percent of their internal revenue allotment.
They can also impose price ceilings on basic necessities and prime commodities, as well as prevent the hoarding of medicines and petroleum products.
